


When The Task Wanes

by evergreentrees



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Angst and Humor, Boats and Ships, F/M, Gun Violence, blood tw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-01
Updated: 2018-08-13
Packaged: 2019-04-30 20:49:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14505201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evergreentrees/pseuds/evergreentrees
Summary: “It’s okay, you’ll be okay,” Bruce called, his voice shivering in the frigid sea. He tried to keep his voice down, but one of Victor’s henchman stirred. The bullet that hit her shoulder, fortunately, was clouding any fear she had before making her decision. So, still clutching the stolen weapons bag, Selina propelled herself off the side of the boat and into the freezing water.





	1. a cold cartridge

**Author's Note:**

> Recon gone terribly (right?) wrong for the budding cat and bat, very seldom do we ever see Selina thrown off her game, and I wanted to see how she would react under an extreme situation like this. Anyways, enjoy lovelies!

Selina hated guns. Not only because they were the laziest weapon, but because half of the time, people who used were always way in over their heads. Even a good portion of Gotham PD were trigger happy, and that’s after all the training. Then again, there were people who knew exactly how to exploit guns, people like Victor Zsasz who was towering over Selina with his revolver while she gripped her bloody shoulder. 

Gladly the bullet had only grazed her shoulder, but it racked pain throughout her entire body, and she was trying hard to focus on what Victor was saying. She knew the the shot was just a warning, but she didn’t have too much time, or energy, to figure out an escape plan. 

“Fucking idiot you are, huh?” Victor rolled his eyes at her, “and here I was expecting your babysitter to come and at least put up a good fight.”

Selina had come to the city’s docks to swipe an old Falcone weapons shipment, one that Tabitha had been tracking. Well, part of the shipment at least, just enough for Barbara and the rest of them. 

“No one will notice,” Tabitha had assured her, “It’s been delayed for months, and given everything that’s happened in the Gotham, I doubt anyone is watching that shipment as close as me.”

Tabitha hadn’t realized that Zsasz had intentionally delayed it though, he was just excited to put the “traitorous bitches” in their place. Selina was screwed before even climbing onto the cargo ship when it docked that night, and with Tabs’ attention glued to Barbara, the mission was failed from the start. As soon as Selina sneaked into the Captain’s bay, all the lights came on and Victor’s bullet bloodied her shoulder. 

“You don’t think so?” Selina lied, looking up at him, “Remember the last time we surprised you?”

Victor looked at his group henchmen and scoffed, “and she’s a bad liar, too.”  
“No wonder your babysitter led you into a trap,” He continued, “it’s probably better for her that you’re dead anyways.”

Selina’s jaw hardened.

“But—if we keep you here, I bet we can get something out of that Kean bitch,” Victor tapped the tip of his gun against his chin.

As he was thinking, the group heard a small thud on the top of the boat. Victor raised an eyebrow, looking just as annoyed as he was when he shot Selina, and sent his men to investigate. He waited for a second, then opened his mouth to talk, only for one of his men to crash through the bay’s window. Victor grabbed Selina’s bad shoulder, pulled her up off the floor, then gave her off to one of his last henchmen.

“Keep this one here, and I’ll go check it out,” he looked at Selina, “Sorry dear, my meatheads can do anything right,” He stormed off with his gun. She waited for Victor to leave, before using the last of her energy to kick her captor in the groin, getting away.

The chaos on the boat gave Selina enough time to patch up her shoulder. She ripped off a part of her black sweater and used her teeth, and good arm, to tie a knot around the bleeding. After waiting a second for the pain, and her tunnel vision, to subside, she was running from room to room in the boat trying to find the weapon’s cargo. She could yell at Tabitha for the woman’s stupidity later, but she wanted to at least do some damage to Victor before she left. 

When she came across the storage space, the boat fell completely silent. She scanned the room as quietly as she could and saw a large wooden crate in the corner. She walked over, noticing the plethora of black bags.

“Small, forgotten shipment my ass,” She thought to herself. Tabitha was not leading her on any of these recon missions again. She grabbed one of the bags and when she turned to leave, she cursed under her breath. A figure stood blocking her exit, casting a shadow on the wood floor.

“Your shoulder.”

His voice was gruff, and he wore a ski-mask and a Kevlar jacket. Dressed in completely black, he almost blended into the dark room. For a split second she didn’t recognize the voice, but when his head awkwardly cocked to the side, she sighed in relief.

“Where’s everyone else, Bruce”, She asked hurriedly, shuffling out of the room and onto the boat deck.  
He stuttered for a second, “U-unconsc---,” he stopped himself, “wait Selina, your shoulder—slow down!” He was fumbling over his words, trotting behind her. 

She was walking across the deck, looking left and right for a ladder, while Bruce tried, and failed, to slow her down. The pain in her wound was throbbing, but she just needed to get this bag off the boat, and then probably steal whatever car Bruce came in. Then she was going to go promptly to Tabitha and scream in her face.

“Selina, you’re bleeding bad,” Bruce said in a softer voice, focusing on her stained sweater, he noted the blood pooling at her wingers. He looked over the side of the boat, desperately trying to think of a plan to get off the cargo vessel.

“I know,” She replied, annoyed at his dumbfounded remark, “now we need to get off this thing”

Selina looked over at the unconscious men, no sight of Victor, thankfully. She didn’t know how long that would last though, since the asshole did have a nasty talent of popping up at the most inconvenient times. 

Bruce was quiet for a second, then looked at her, “Selina this thing isn’t tied down,” 

“What?” 

“We need to jump?”

“What!”

Victor had apparently untied the ship before Bruce had punched him unconscious, he explained, effectively rendering any stairs or ladders off the ship useless. She stared at the wooden dock beneath them, growing smaller and smaller with every second, while they stood like idiots not doing anything.  
Selina felt the blood in her wound start to surge again, she looked over the edge of the boat into the dark water.

“Look,” Bruce said, “I’ll jump first, make sure you have something to hold onto,” He began to take off his mask, “plus the cold water will slow down your bleeding, and the salt will help clean it.” 

She highly doubted Gotham’s seawater had any medicinal properties, but she nodded her head anyways, and watched Bruce jump 30 feet below into black water. When he came up for air, he called for her to jump. Selina felt her stomach drop, jumping across buildings was nothing, but jumping into nothingness? She didn’t like that feeling of helplessness, it was something she had grown out of, and she didn't want to give it any leisure over her life anymore. 

“It’s okay, you’ll be okay,” Bruce called, his voice shivering in the frigid sea. He tried to keep his voice down, but one of Victor’s henchman stirred. Before he could come to, Selina, still clutching the stolen weapons bag, propelled herself off the side of the boat and into the freezing water.


	2. greetings, danger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi lovelies! So immensely sorry this update is months late, but this is the last chapter for the foreseeable future. Just wanted to finish this story before I start anything else! Let me know what y'all think.

The first thing she felt wasn’t even the cold, it was the salt. It stung her wound badly and hurt more than the initial shot that Victor made. Panic set in when she could only paddle with one arm, she used the arm on the injured shoulder side to make sure she didn’t lose the weapons bag. 

"Like hell this thing is getting away from me," 

Bruce swam over immediately and brought an arm around her waist to keep her afloat. The two paddled to the nearby dock that, thankfully, wasn’t too far away--but every second she stayed in the water, her breathing slowed. When Bruce noticed her body start to grow limp, he tried talking to her, "C'mon Sel," his own voice was shaking, "just a few more feet."

When they reached the dock, Selina mustered enough energy to swing her good arm onto the platform, and Bruce pushed her up. The black sack of guns clattered on the wood. 

“Shit,” Bruce cursed, looking back at the boat, “Victor and his uglies are up.”

Shivering, and despite how heavy her limbs felt, Selina turned around to help him. She spied men running across the boat, yelling at each other; a figure come to his feet, then looked over the boat. White teeth broke through the dark black background. 

Fucking Zsasz.

While her anger revamped, the engine roared to life, and bullets started to hit the water. Bruce had narrowly dodged one before pulling himself out of the water. 

"My car's this way," Bruce called to her over the commotion, grabbing the weapons bag. They took off running across the wooden dock, the leftover saltwater still stinging Selina's shoulder. 

The two ran slower than usual, the weight of their cold, wet clothes weighing them down. Both began to take their soaked layers off as their feet slapped on the creaking wood, and their pace began to quicken. Bruce took a short glance at Selina’s wound, and even though the moon that night was dim, and there were barely any streetlights, he could spy the trail of blood it was leaving. 

“We need to get out of sight, now,” Bruce said to her, out of breath. He knew Zsasz was probably following the trail, or at least his huge burly men were. 

When they reached the city’s start, he pulled her into an alleyway. His mustang was waiting underneath a ratted black tarp in the abyss of the alley. 

“Guess I can't steal your car today,” she said to him without thinking. Bruce looked at her and rolled his eyes, "God just...get in."

Selina scoffed but got in the car without any more remarks from him, she was careful not to jostle her side. Bruce turned over the engine and the car pulled out of the alley, weaving in between the sea of Gotham's buildings. Bruce kept checking the rearview mirror, making sure no cars were following them. He seemed to relax a bit after pulling onto the highway, and after they caught their breath, and when the car grew silent, Bruce looked over at Selina. Despite being safe, his nostrils were flared, and his fingers gripped the steering wheel. 

“Was it really worth it?” He looked over at the black sack she now held in her lap. It was waterlogged, but Selina didn’t care, “You think Zsasz is gonna miss a few guns?

She was carefully inspecting her shoulder, trying to make sure the wound didn't get any worse. 

“That asshole’s ego is huge,” She glanced at Bruce, her voice unwavering, "so yeah, and maybe this will teach him not to put a bullet through my skin!"

Selina took a breath. For the time being the bleeding stopped, thankfully jumping into the cold water did help, and the sting of the salt had faded.  
Bruce held his tongue, trying not to mouth off or argue until Selina’s shoulder was taken care of. He pulled over onto a gravel area on the side of the highway and turned on the car light. He pulled open the glove compartment to reveal a small first aid box. She looked around them, no cars were following them, and there weren't any lights behind, but she was still nervous.

“Um, it would be nice if we got a little farther away from the city,” Selina remarked, “and if you had a bigger first aid box.”

“Numbing ointment, alcohol wipes, I even have an injection of morphine in here,” Bruce said, “and we're far enough for now.”

He shifted his body to face hers and made her do the same, before going to work unwrapping her sweater tourniquet and using the alcohol to clean the wound. She hissed when the wipes touched her skin, but Bruce was delicate enough, and his concentration didn’t falter even when she leaned away. He pursed his lips.

“Listen, whatever was in that water may have infected your shoulder okay?”

“You’re the one that said it’d sanitize it!”

“I was just saying that so—” Bruce stopped himself, “nevermind, just try not to slap me while I clean this up?”

She was silent for the rest of the time he worked on her shoulder. Both of them were still cold, but the stench of iron and alcohol began to fill the car, and Selina felt her stomach churn. She tried occupying her mind with how mad Victor was right now, and how amazing it would be to see a frustrated Victor Zsasz. He was probably pacing up and down, his eyes wide with frustration, cursing her and whatever hooded idiot took at all of his men. She then realized--

“Bruce, why were you even at the docks tonight?”

He wrapped gauze around her shoulder, “I was at an underground auction tonight, talking to some,”  
He paused, “newfound friends.”

“And what? Zsasz was there, got drunk, and spilled?” She retorted.

“Unlike him, but yeah, kind of,” He tied gauze ends off, inspecting his work, “He was talking to someone that used to work for Barbara.”  
Selina furrowed her brows, “How are you so sure?”

“I recognized her from that night Ra’s came back,” He sighed. Bruce went on to explain that Zsasz was speaking to one of Barbara's old associates, how Victor had knowingly set up the whole thing, just to take out the sirens. He apparently had a new boss that wanted to take all the sirens out, and Victor needing more help, was rounding up all of Barbara's enemies. 

Selina brought her hand to her temples, frustrated at herself for not realizing it was a trap any sooner. She should've known, the boat was too quiet and all the lights were off when she had boarded. 

Bruce continued, “I figured it would be Tabitha she was sending, and I was going to warn her," he ruffled his hair with his hnd, “but ‘Tabitha’,” he motioned to Selina, “was too quick at the docks, and as soon as I realized it was you, I heard the gun shot and—”

He darted his eyes from hers, “I just took out as many of them as I could, then when Victor showed up, I just got so angry.”

She swallowed, “Yeah well, Vic will do that to people,” She joked, trying to break the heaviness in the air.

"Thanks, Bruce," she said, earnest as ever, which was rare for her.

His eyes looked back at her, they were much softer this time, "You went straight into the hornets nest, huh?"

They sat in the freezing silence for a few moments, before Bruce noticed her shivering. He pulled a couple of pea coats from the backseat, placing one on her lap.

“Take your shirt off,” he said without thinking.

She gave him a look.

“I mean, like, we just jumped into cold seawater, so take your shirt off and put my coat on."

Selina chuckled to herself, before using her uninjured side to weave her arms out of the sopping sweater. After pulling on his warm wool coat, she instantly felt better.  
Bruce then moved to take off his pull-over, raising the sweatshirt above his head. Selina inspected her shoulder, slightly impressed with the boy’s work, noting that his patch-up skills are probably the only reason he wasn't dead by now. When he noticed what he was doing, he let out a breath. "Not trying to undermine your strength," He said, "but I sincerely want to know what you were thinking." She looked up at the car's ceiling, "I don't know, I just thought, 'what would Bruce do in this situation' ya know?" She replied, sheepishly. "This is not a joke, Selina," he was staring straight into her eyes now, and she could spy dark circles, "if he had shot you again--" "Well, see, he didn't," she motioned to the rest of her body. "That's not my point!" "Okay wise-ass, then what is!?" "You're not invincible," He said. She was dumbfounded, "Uh, I know that, so try again." "You said it yourself," He observed, "you're taking on too much and not thinking before acting, if you're gonna keep helping Barbara, you need to get that through your head." She sat back in her seat, shaking her head, "I know how to take care of myself." He nodded, "you do, better than anyone else in this town, and I don't know what it is about this is situation is throwing you off She then glanced at his bare chest, spying odd bruises. 

“Fallen through any more skylights lately?” She smirked as he pulled the other jacket. Bruce followed her gaze to his torso, looking down at the marks that had been staining his stomach lately; whenever one faded, another one grew. 

He grinned, "Through skylights? Not so much," he looked at her, "For you? Always."

Selina smiled at him, a genuine smile, one that lifted his spirits no matter how he was feeling. She shook her head, eyebrows raised at him.

“That was—”

“Listen I tried,” he put his hands up in defeat, before turning the car engine over and pulling back onto the highway.

As Bruce drove, they tried discussing what to do next. Thankfully, Victor hadn't identified Bruce, but it wouldn't take long for him to have some inkling of who the culprit was. They decided to drive to Wayne manor as opposed to a hospital, not only because Selina's wound was getting better, but mostly because going to a public space right now was too dangerous.

"Alfred will probably yell at us," Bruce noted.

Selina shrugged, "Yeah well," she looked out the window, staring at the sun coming out over the horizon, "what's new."


End file.
